Master 2024/2025

Decentralized Finance

Type: Elective course (Financial Analyst)

Area of studies: Finance and Credit

Delivered by: HSE Banking Institute

Where: HSE Banking Institute

When: 2 year, 1 module

Mode of studies: offline

Open to: students of one campus

Master’s programme: Financial Analyst

Language: English

ECTS credits: 3

Course Syllabus

Abstract

In general this course aims to: •Explain fundamental concepts underpinning decentralized finance (DeFi) such as blockchain, distributed ledgers, consensus mechanisms, smart contracts. •Give understanding of the ecosystem of decentralized financial applications and differentiate them from traditional financial systems. •Identify and compare major categories of DeFi including stablecoins, lending, borrowing, decentralized exchanges, derivatives, payments and more. •Analyze the economic incentives, governance mechanisms, risks and regulations associated with leading DeFi protocols. •Evaluate transparency, accessibility, efficiency, and other benefits afforded by decentralized finance. •Demonstrate limitations and challenges confronting the DeFi ecosystem related to scalability, interoperability, security, user experience. •Show application of DeFi platforms to execute basic financial transactions such as taking loans, making payments, trading derivatives. •Perform perspectives on the future evolution of decentralized finance and its potential disruption of mainstream financial industry.